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    Asia Cup 2022: who will play in place of Ravindra Jadeja

    Synopsis

    Will India go with Axar Patel or Deepak Hooda? Will they play the experienced Ravichandran Ashwin?

    jadeja reuterReuters
    That's the question on the mind of Indian fans ahead of the clash of the two teams in the Super 4 match at Asia Cup 2022 on Sunday. The allrounder has been ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury after the first two matches, and has been replaced by Axar Patel.

    In their opening match a week ago, Jadeja was one of the architects of India's win, topscoring with 35 of 29 balls and bowling two overs for 11 runs. India in that match played six bowlers, went with Dinesh Karthik instead of Rishabh Pant, and got Jadeja to go in at No 4 to keep the left-right combination going in the top six.

    Now, Axar bowls left-arm orthodox and bats left-handed; but it would not be a straightforward replacement as it looks with India's batting strength and balance taking a hit.

    In the match against Hong Kong India got Rishabh Pant to come into the eleven at the expense of Hardik Pandya, but then, the ace allrounder has to come back into the eleven in a crucial match against Pakistan.

    India can get in-form batter Deepak Hooda to replace Jadeja - he can bowl offbreaks - but then that would weaken the bowling at a time Yuzvendra Chahal is not in prime form and pacer Avesh Khan is leaking runs and reportedly "unwell".

    The team also has the option of playing Ravichandran Ashwin, who is not just a top class spinner , but also a decent bat. But at whose expense is a question that would be mulled over.

    It remains to be seen if skipper Rohit Sharma and Dravid would take any gambles on Sunday. Pant is the best left-handed batting option available in the top half, and remember, both the Pakistani spinners turn the ball away from the right hander.

    To add to India's dilemmas, the top three - Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli - are not in roaring form. The team selection for India in this match will come after a lot of brainstorming.

    Here are the two teams from which the final XIs will be picked.

    India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.

    Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir, Mohammed Hasnain, Hasan Ali.


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